Religious liberty is not a weapon

I am an optimist by nature. I trust that people will usually do the “right thing” if given time, space and information. I get that the “right thing” can be defined differently depending on our life experiences. But, in the end, I believe that most people are driven by their values and morals, which for many are shaped by their religious beliefs, to care for the world and those in it.

Often times, however, we see religion and religious liberty wrapped in the warmth of fear, breeding hate and bigotry toward the “other.” Although not new to the human story, people who respect others and the notion that their beliefs are not the one true path in life, usually also understand that no religion has hate at its core. Certainly the founders of our democracy respected our religious differences and understood religion should never be used as a weapon against others. In my opinion, they placed religious liberty at the forefront of our founding documents to ensure a space for our individual beliefs and to protect the integrity of our democracy as a whole.

Much posturing and public conversation regarding religious liberty has occurred this year. Conservative elected officials, candidates, leaders, business owners and others would have us believe that they, as members of the majority religion, are being persecuted and that their religious freedom is threatened in some way. The best defense is always a good offense. I am quite sure those in the majority have no real idea what it means to be persecuted or discriminated against. It simply is smoke and mirrors to advance their agenda.

The threat to religious liberty is real, but it is not from the LGBTQ community, women’s reproductive rights advocates, public education leaders, the courts, or minority religious traditions, as the religious right would have us believe. The threat to religious liberty in our country is from the very people who are making the most noise about it: religious right zealots.

Those leading the religious right movement are misappropriating and reinterpreting the concept of religious liberty, much to the detriment of our country. Religious liberty is about protecting individual rights, giving us the right to believe and practice for ourselves. Religious liberty means ensuring the government does not overreach its authority and elevate one religion or belief over any other.

Religious liberty does not give someone permission to impose their religious beliefs on others or our government, or take away another person’s civil rights in the process.

We must always unite against discrimination and deny those who would take away rights with the false excuse of religious freedom. We must lift up the moral imperative for every woman to maintain the right to make decisions about her body. And, we must ensure our courts, public schools and public life are not compromised by those who wish to tear them down in the name of religion.

We are privileged to live in the most religiously pluralistic country in the world. We do so because of religious freedom and the optimism of our founders. To preserve the integrity of our democracy as well as religious freedom, we must stand up to those who are persistent in their attempts to rewrite history and are the real threats to the constitutional promise provided every person. Religious freedom is a right and a responsibility, one we must be dedicated to protect for the good of all and our nation’s future.